A French oil tanker sailing off the coast of Côte d'Ivoire is suspected of having been hijacked by pirates. The tanker had a crew of 17 on board an there has been no contact with the ship since yesterday.

Guatemala City -
Internet software entrepreneur John McAfee, appeared in public in Guatemala Tuesday for the first time since he went into hiding from the Belizean authorities, saying he is seeking asylum in Guatemala because of fears for his safety in Belize.

Cotonou -
Armed pirates raided an idling tanker on Wednesday as it was attempting to transfer its crude oil cargo, about 62 nautical miles from the Benin capital of Cotonou, and hijacked 23 sailors in waters seeing a marked increase in piracy.

France’s reputation for influence-peddling and widespread corruption in Africa is nobody’s secret, but Nicolas Sarkozy's reactions to the current electoral deadlock in the Ivory Coast indicate that France's shadowy African era may be coming to an end.

Officials are trying to protect children this Halloween by asking sex offenders to display a poster saying, "no candy at this residence", a warning sign that tells children and parents that there is a sex offender living at that address.

The timing of the summit offers Peru the ideal silver lining to exhibit its economic resilience. Merrill Lynch ranks Peru among the 10 countries with the lowest country risk. Peru also shows the lowest financial risk in Latin America .